


Death is a Necessary Evil

by TigerLily



Category: Proof of Life (2000)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-25
Updated: 2012-01-25
Packaged: 2017-10-30 02:56:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/326990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigerLily/pseuds/TigerLily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dino reflects on his killing of Arturo Fernandez.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Death is a Necessary Evil

Dino didn’t think of himself as an assassin.

Although his military training gave him that capability, he chose not to exercise it.

He killed when it was necessary not for money.

Arturo Fernandez’s death had been necessary. The man had put the lives of two women desperate for the return of a love one in jeopardy. This had made Dino’s blood boil.

The redhead had calmly taken Fernandez out to a deserted part of the city and put a 9mm slug between his eyes.

On the trip back to the Bowman house he had tried to justify this by telling himself it hadn’t been an act of revenge but necessity.

This rationalization didn’t remove the bitter taste of gall from his mouth nor had the half of bottle of Scotch.

He poured himself another shot, but a hand on his wrist stopped him from knocking it back.

“You’ve had enough, mate,” was rumbled in his ear.

“Fuck off, Ter,” he growled.

“You did the right thing, Dino.”

“Did I?” Dino snipped. He pulled free of Terry’s grasp and tossed back the shot. He flipped the glass over and gently set it on the bar. “Who died and made you God?”

“Nobody, mate,” Terry conceded. He could tell Dino wasn’t drunk, but he didn’t want the redhead’s judgment impaired if somebody decided to come back for all the cash that had been stashed in the bathroom. “I’m just saying that you did the right thing. He won’t be able to hurt anybody else with his half-arsed schemes.”

“I didn’t do it for them,” Dino simply and coldly stated. “I did it for me.”

Terry nodded.

Arturo Fernandez had sold Dino out a few years ago in Venezuela. Dino had managed to escape, but the effort had cost him some of his sanity.

Terry had known the moment he had asked Dino to help him with the Bowman case that the redhead would find a way to get his revenge. But, to hear him state it so simply and coldly made the brunette shiver.

“Why don’t you come into the livingroom stretch out on the couch and get a couple hours of kip?” he suggested. It was a lame attempt to change the subject, but he had to try because he didn’t like seeing his friend so down on himself.

“Nah,” Dino said with a tight smile. He pushed his chair back and stood up. He snagged the shot gun that leaned against the breakfast bar. “I think I’ll go relieve Migs.”

“Fair enough.”

Dino walked out.

Terry watched him through the glass door chat with the tall man he had briefly introduced to the Aussie scant hours before. It appeared that they had an easy camaraderie, and Terry felt a twinge of jealousy, which he shoved into a dark corner of his mind.

The tall man patted Dino on the shoulder and walked into the house. He spotted Terry and asked, “What the hell’s wrong with Dino?”

“He took out Fernandez.”

“Hmmm,” Migs murmured. “Asshole deserved it for what he did.”

“Yes,” Terry quietly agreed.

“I’m going to take a loop around the neighborhood. Be back in thirty.”

“Don’t get lost,” Terry teased.

“That’s Dino’s area of expertise.”

“Fair dinkum,” Terry agreed. It was a known fact in K&R circles that Dino could get lost on the way from his bedroom to the kitchen, especially when there was a woman involved.

He waited until Migs slipped out the backdoor before he joined Dino on the front stoop.

“I don’t want to talk about it, Ter,” Dino said hoping to put a stop to Terry’s clumsy attempt to comfort him.

“I only came out for a fag, mate,” Terry remarked. “I left mine back at the hotel.”

Dino pulled a half smashed pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and tossed it at the brunette. “Senile bastard.”

“Annoying fuck,” Terry retorted. He retrieved a slightly bent cigarette from the pack before tossing it back to Dino.

Dino shook one out for himself and popped it into his mouth. He set the pack on the step between them. He fished a silver lighter from his jeans pocket and lit the cigarette hanging limply from his mouth before handing it to Terry.

They sat in silence smoking and just enjoying each other’s company.

There was no need for explaining his actions. Terry would never think less of him and vice versa.

When the sun started coming up, Terry pulled himself to his feet. “I’m going to go get cleaned up. You good?”

“Yeah,” Dino replied. “And, Ter?”

“Uh huh?”

“Thank you.”

Terry smiled. “No worries, eh?”

“No worries,” Dino agreed. He watched Terry walk back into the house feeling a sense of peace flow over him. Although, he had taken a life in revenge it didn’t make him an assassin.

Fin


End file.
